Well, the 2018 Winter Olympics are here, and although the opening ceremony doesn’t air until tonight at 8 PM ET on NBC, some competitions are already underway. But it’s the people outside the stadium that are dominating headlines.
Korean police spent a majority of last night breaking up mobs and trying to stop people from burning photos of Kim Jong Un. Tons of South Koreans are proudly waving their nation’s flag, incinerating portraits of the North Korean dictator, and loudly proclaiming their love for Donald Trump. A lot of them brought red picket signs with the word “OUT,” which signifies their opposition to Korean unification and anger toward an increased North Korean presence in their country during the winter games.
“It’s deplorable that North Koreans are coming down here,” one Korean man shouts as he burns a photo of Kim Jong Un.
.@eimiyamamitsu and I outside the Pyeongchang Olympics opening ceremony tonight and just had a chat with some of the protesters in town.
They love Trump and hate the idea Korean unification pic.twitter.com/HaeXNGkiVD
— Ryan Broderick (@broderick) February 9, 2018
Cops keep having to rush in and stop people from burning photos of Kim Jong-Un. pic.twitter.com/Tb4QQoRYWa
— Ryan Broderick (@broderick) February 9, 2018
North and South Korea marched together under one flag during the opening ceremony and have planned to compete together in several sports, including women’s ice hockey.
North and South Korea enter together at the #OpeningCeremony
Another Olympic moment in the books. pic.twitter.com/QBsFgItqHV
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 9, 2018
The decision to march under a united flag shocked spectators around the world, especially after Kim Jong Un announced his sister – who’s been condemned by the US for human rights violations – would attend the Olympics.
Is anyone legitimately shocked that virulent Kim Jong Un protests have broken out? This should be the least surprising thing about the Pyeongchang Olympics. Think about it. It’s 2018. In Korea. Not exactly a mundane place to be hosting people from all over the world – just miles from the border of a country that’s arguably home to the biggest human rights crisis in the world. If you think people aren’t gonna fixate on that then you probably haven’t been paying attention. Between the nicknames hurled across the Pacific every other week, a rousing State Of The Union that basically flipped Kim Jong Un the bird, and an already paranoid South Korean population, this wasn’t gonna be a walk in the park.
More power to these South Koreans. They’re not afraid to stand up and basically say the Korean version of MAGA. That’s a beautiful thing.
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